Syracuse, N.Y. — At the end of Saturday afternoon's 3 1/2-hour exercise that would see two clubs stumble through the football equivalent of a sack race, the two fellas who'd choreographed the unsightly doings ended up fully agreeing on the affair's aesthetics.

"We're not the prettiest team in the world," announced Syracuse coach Scott Shafer. "But we're fighting the good fight to get better."

The Panthers, who rushed for 21 yards and committed two turnovers, had won for the sixth time this season. The Orange, which committed eight penalties and batted .333 (6-for-18) in third- and fourth-down conversion situations, had lost for the sixth time this season.

And, oh, the humanity.

The final was 17-16, it had included a first half that saw Pitt average 1.2 yards per rushing attempt and SU average 3.8 yards per passing attempt, and it bore witness to fans leaving the Carrier Dome midway through the fourth quarter of a one-point game.

It was not, in other words, a piece of sculptured marble that would be displayed in a gallery behind a velvet rope.

But the scrum had produced something other than a possible touch of buyer's remorse in the home office of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which may have been wondering if its membership invitations to the so-so Panthers and unremarkable Orange could be rescinded.

In fact, it had produced two things: A bowl bunch (Pittsburgh, at 6-5) and one running out of time (Syracuse, at 5-6).

Now, you may scoff at the importance of qualifying for a postseason that will open its doors to 60 percent of the Division I-A field . . . or to 70 of 123 squads, more than one of which won't have so much as a winning record. Meanwhile, you may wonder why folks care about the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl or the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl or the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl or the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl or other funkily-named holiday contests in outposts such as Mobile and Shreveport, Birmingham and El Paso.

And that would be your right. But the NBA does usher 53 percent (16 of 30) of its members into the playoffs and millions of Americans did watch Bill Engvall, he of the two left (and possibly webbed) feet, dance again on national television on Monday night. So there are precedents out there for both dilution and odd tastes, which allows college football to be as comfortable as it is unapologetic.

More specifically, it has encouraged SU to continue the chase, even if that chase has meant that the line between excellence and mediocrity has blurred before the very eyes of Shafer's peeps.

"It's very important," said Ri'Shard Anderson, the Orange cornerback, when asked about his school's potential postseason appearance. "Everyone knows that. It's a big thing that can change the program and show everyone that we can be that dominant team."

So, there. A victory in four days over Boston College — and its 2,073-yard, No. 44-wearing runner, Andre Williams — in the Dome would improve the Syracuse record to 6-6, render SU eligible for one more game in December and nudge the locals that much closer to, um, dominance.

And, absolutely, it does seem as if the Orange athletes, welted and limping, are all in.

"We're still hungry," promised Terrel Hunt, the Syracuse quarterback. "Right now, we're a little bruised. We'll play with our hearts and leave it all on the field."

If form holds, it almost certainly won't be a pretty sight. Not that Shafer would mind all that much.

Coming this afternoon at 2 p.m.: The weekly visit to the BudBlog's "Video Store."